"Absolutely! He and Samoa Joe have always been super cool to me since day 1. Eric's worked his tail off. He can entertain, get in the ring with guys from Kurt Angle to Bobby Roode to Robbie E - guys with different styles and wrestle them any night of the week and put on a 5-star match. So he deserves everything he's getting right now."

Why he re-signed with TNA:

"Years ago, I did stuff in another company and it was like walking on egg shells backstage. One of the reasons why I re-signed with TNA is because I'm happy where I am. It is like a big family, everybody's there for one job and that is to put on a great show."

What inspired his finishing move:

"I still do Hangar 18 but I always liked Lex Luger as a kid and it had been a long time since we'd seen a finisher like that. It was something that I thought I could use, given my size. It also looks impressive so I decided to add it to my arsenal. I once had to pick up Luke Gallows (known as Doc in TNA), he's a big guy and sometimes you think 'that's bad on the back' because your compressing your spine. As for Hanger 18, I always give props to Brock Lesnar because that's his move and I use the F5 with the utmost respect but that move is rough on your back too."

Much more is contained in the interview, including Gunner discussing Samoa Joe's "pep talk" on the UK tour, rib stories, religion, doing a wrestling podcast and more. You can can read the full interview here.

Infamous Heel contributed to this article. Follow Raj Giri on Twitter at @RajGiri_303. Got a news tip or correction? Send it to us by clicking here.